Horsham man helps rescue effort in aftermath of Hurricane Irma

September 13, 2017: Virgin Group Founder and long-time British Virgin Islands resident, Richard Branson, whose Necker Island was devastated following Irma offered a glimpse Tuesday at some of the damage across the BVI.

Facts and figures on the United Kingdom government's relief work in the Caribbean and the British Overseas Territories in response to Hurricane Irma.

Dorothea Hodge, who was the UK/EU representative for the island's government between 2010 and 2015, said many islanders were still without power, including her 91-year-old uncle.

The funds were announced as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson visited the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla, pledging "our absolute commitment" to Britons there.

She said it was "alarming" that nearly a week had passed since the hurricane and Sir Alan was "still talking about the potential evacuation of British citizens".

Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) are among 14 British overseas territories which are all self-governing but the British government is responsible for their defence and security with a duty to protect them from natural disasters.

Nine people were killed in the British territories in the hurricane out of a total of at least 50 dead in the region.

Horsham man helps rescue effort in aftermath of Hurricane Irma

A man from Horsham is among a British disaster response team now in the British Virgin Islands helping to cope with the apocalyptic aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

May - facing criticism of the British response - insisted that her government's reaction had been "speedy".

He told MPs: "The prison was breached, over 100 very serious prisoners escaped".

"They were already seized with the knowledge of where might be the vulnerable areas", she added. "But we are very fortunate to have a strong cellar built into Necker's Great House", he wrote in a blog post from nearby Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Irma was the most powerful storm on record to ever hit the Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Irma was downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday, after it had wreaked havoc along Florida's west coast.